"Evil does exist in the world." This bald assertion is probably not what the Norwegian grantors of the Nobel Peace Prize expected to hear from Barack Obama. It sounds like something that the definer of the axis of evil might say, without the Texas twang.
One of the things that political pros often overestimate is how well known politicians are.
Like Yogi Berra said, it’s déjà vu all over again.
Fifty-one percent (51%) of Illinois voters oppose relocating some suspected terrorists from the Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba to a prison in their state.
First, the good news on the economic recovery that everybody loves to hate: Retail sales totally beat Wall Street estimates with a huge 1.3 percent gain in November. Core retail sales have increase 5.6 percent at an annual rate over the past three months. Family net wealth has rebounded $5 trillion over the past six months.
For most Americans, the December holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year.
Most American adults (62%) say they are less likely to travel this holiday season compared to past years, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
The election is nearly a year away, but right now former Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton appears to be the Republican with the best shot of beating either of the potential Democratic candidates in Colorado’s race for the U.S. Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid continues to lag behind all potential Republican challengers in next year’s U.S. Senate race in Nevada, according to new Rasmussen Reports telephone polling in the state.
I like Hanukkah. It's a very nice holiday, as Jewish holidays go; one of the few where the Jews actually won, as opposed to having the Temple destroyed, or fleeing the divided sea, or being spared from the evil Haman. Usually, it's enough if we survive. Often, we don't even do that.
Americans remain overwhelmingly in favor of allowing religious symbols to be displayed on public land and feel even more strongly that public schools should celebrate at least some religious holidays.
President Obama in his recent speech laying out his strategy for the war in Afghanistan stressed how important it is for America’s NATO allies to pitch in.
Americans remain evenly divided over how urgent it is to deal with global warming.
Evading the challenges of climate change -- and the human responsibility to save the planet -- is simple enough even for the laziest citizen. Pay attention only to the theories that support the comforting skepticism of the oil industry. Focus on a set of purloined emails that prove nothing except that scientists can be as unpleasant to each other as any other group of people. Get the "facts" from Fox News Channel, the Wall Street Journal editorial page, the Moonie-controlled Washington Times and all the other conservative outlets that are as fair and balanced as an Exxon press release.
"Knowledge is becoming more specialized and more dispersed, while government power is becoming more concentrated," writes economist Arnold Kling in his new book, "Unchecked and Unbalanced." "This discrepancy creates the potential for government to become increasingly erratic and, as a result, less satisfying to individuals."
Republican Rob Portman has managed to pull away somewhat from Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner but still finds himself in a highly competitive race with Democratic Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher in potential 2010 U.S. Senate match-ups in Ohio.
Democratic State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has now crept past Republican Congressman Mark Kirk in Illinois’ 2010 race for the U.S. Senate, and other Democratic hopefuls are closing the gap.
Likely Republican nominee Pat Toomey is now ahead of both Democrats who are vying to run against him next year in Pennsylvania’s 2010 race for the U.S. Senate.
So it's come down to this. Republicans and some Democrats wouldn't vote for a government-run health plan that competed with private insurers -- though it would enjoy no special taxpayer subsidies. That's socialism.
Unemployment in Ohio has jumped to 10.5%, the state is wrestling with an $851 million budget shortfall, and Governor Ted Strickland has proposed delaying a tax cut approved in 2005. Add it all together, and it’s a tough environment for the incumbent Democratic governor who now trails his expected general election opponent by nine percentage points in an early look at the 2010 race.
